By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Some of the best case strategies that we have developed with our clients over the years resulted in the other
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The “law of least effort” is an important principle for understanding jury decision-making. In short, if there are several ways
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The critical takeaway from any meaningful discussion about primacy theory and its role in persuading jurors is often the one
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the most commonly-cited statistics in communication studies is that verbal communication (i.e. the words that are actually said)
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. What is the most appropriate pace of speech? A common belief among trial attorneys is that it is important to
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Over the past few months, I’ve celebrated my 40thbirthday, my 15thyear in the jury consulting industry, and the 5-year anniversary
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. An important lesson I have learned from observing jurors’ decision-making in mock trials is that jurors sometimes dislike strategies that
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Last year, famed actor Johnny Depp filed a lawsuit against his management company for professional negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud,
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. Lately I’ve been following the debate about how the media should cover Trump’s statements – whether via Tweet, rally, official
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. When Colin Kaepernick first took a knee in 2016 during the National Anthem to protest police brutality against African-Americans, the
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. The “me too” movement has become one of the most defining issues in American culture over the last year. We
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. In an article called “The Case of the Vanishing Trial Lawyer,” published in the Boston Globe,a veteran litigator, Edward McCarthy,
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. It probably comes as no surprise that corporate defendants face a disadvantage at trial compared to individual defendants. A long
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. Confirmation bias refers to when people accept or reject evidence based upon what they want to believe as opposed to
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the studies that I like to cite more than just about any is the old 3M study that
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. On a recent episode of “All In,” Chris Hayes was discussing one possible approach the Trump team could take in
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. I have previously written about how important repetition is to persuasion. I discussed how repetition increases retention, familiarity, and believability.
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. Sound Jury Consulting recently conducted a nationwide online survey in which we asked the following: If you were sitting as
By Jill D. Schmid, Ph.D. I’m sure you’ve written dozens perhaps hundreds. For each, you’ve painstakingly chosen every word, and gone over it with a
By Thomas M. O’Toole, Ph.D. One of the most popular strategies used and advocated by many plaintiff’s attorneys across the country is the “broken rule”
